About six months after opening a new government-subsidized headquarters and innovation center in Twin Falls, Idaho’s largest cheese producer is laying off 50 workers across southern Idaho.
According to several reports, Glanbia is laying off the workers after a dip in milk powder supply. The company does not expect the employee departures to last too long.
Workers in four different facilities were cut, though Glanbia said the Gooding plant was the hardest hit by the workforce reduction.
The company announced the move about six months after opening its new $15 million headquarters in Twin Falls. The headquarters, which didn’t bring any permanent new jobs to the city or the region but relocated existing jobs to the new facility, also features a cheese innovation center. The facility, the company said, will allow the company to lead in innovation and product development.
The company didn’t go it alone on the project, though. City taxpayers, through the local urban renewal district, pitched in more than $1.2 million for the project. The district funded infrastructure upgrades around the two new buildings, including street lights and parking lot, among other things.
The city also gave the developer a deal on the land, selling to the developer a parcel the district bought for $340,000.
Glanbia told a Twin Falls news station that the innovation center would help create jobs for the area.